Rosenfels makes a solid opening statement

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on August 14, 2009, 10:37 PM EDT

Vikings quarterback Sage Rosenfels, getting the start in his team’s preseason opener, completed ten of 13 passes and led the offense to ten points in two drives in a 13-3 win over the Colts on Friday night.

Rosenfels’ tenure lasted all of the first quarter and one play of the second. He generated 91 yards through the air and ran once for five yards.

Tarvaris Jackson completed seven of 15 passes for 39 yards working with the second-team offense.

Jackson presumably will start next Friday’s preseason game against the Chiefs as he and Rosenfels continue to battle for the right to be the first guy benched if the team struggles to start the season.

Thought I heard Ray Edwards saying something about breaking the sack record this year…!?? Oh wait..was that last year…!??

MasterShake says:Aug 14, 2009 11:07 PM

Sage is there for a reason. Not exactly sure what the reason is but he’s there for a reason. Quick judgement is a poor judgement. The vikes (queens) just need some stability at QB, not sporadic impulses by the QB. Playing it safe might be enough to advance from last year. If (If) they can solidify the QB position, what team in the NFC will be more solid then them? Giants, maybe, Saints, not so fast, Panthers, could be, Eagles, they have to outscore everyone else because they can’t stop anyone. It’s a crap-shoot and when a NFC team has the gumpshun to sign a dogbeater, it’s all crap.

Elgar says:Aug 14, 2009 11:44 PM

Ray Edwards was the first of three Vikings to sack Peyton Manning like some shabby rag doll tonight and hold him to a big goose egg in his yards passing stats during his only series. The Colts threw in the towel for him to prevent Manning from visiting the ER as a customer and let someone else endure the next three sacks. The Vikings are going to stomp the NFC flat.

tleg81 says:Aug 15, 2009 12:02 AM

Lets face it…the Vikes have to put some pressure on Jackson…..that is the only reason sage is even included in the mix…..quite frankly I love it!!
Personally I am a die hard Steelers fan born and raised in Pittsburgh (just in case anyone thinks I am a fair weather fan) That said, every true football fan has a team in the other conference that they root for…….my team on the other end is the Vikes.
I love that Sage is there and I think its great for the team if Sage wins the job…..for the future of the franchise it might not be the best situation, but just look at the make up of the team.
It correlates directly to the Ravens of 2000. Trent Dilfer at that time was a journeyman much like Sage that was brought in to bring a veteran mentality to the QB position in B-more (who i despise by the way). Not only did he bring experience, but he was able to figure out his role, let the defense play without making mistakes, and give the ball to his Backs and throw to his safety nets.
The Vikes have the perfiect set up for him. Good Backs, Great D, and a solid short receiving threat. Visanthe Shaineco ( I spelled his name wrong I know it), is better than advertised and will be a great outlet for Sage.
The Vikes simply are dangerous given that they have a stout running game, an experienced QB, and a solid D to say the least. I am reluctant to say this being a steelers fan, but I believe the Vikes will end up #1 on D by the end of the year in Points allowed!!
My prediction is Vikes 20 – Chargers 13 in the superbowl…..now that is a bold statement…..and would be really cool if it happened (but I would prefer a repeat)

BigBear says:Aug 15, 2009 12:17 AM

Tavaris fully recovered from knee injury? Imagine if he is playing with 2nd team offense, but likely while Sage started.
Neither hold a candle to our diva Cutler anyways. =P

effs420 says:Aug 15, 2009 12:17 AM

See Bob Nelson, Dewey, Jimmy, etc…
MasterShake just showed you how to insult the vikings while not being an idiot and an ignorant homer…
Take notes

THE RUBE says:Aug 15, 2009 1:04 AM

1 head coach………4 years……..7 quarterbacks…….recipe for superbowl?

kingart27 says:Aug 15, 2009 1:52 AM

Wow I cant believe that I am writing this but I think that tleg81 isnt giving his team enough credit. The Steelers have as good a chance at repeating as anyone has with that D. Being a Vikings fan I appreciate the love but in the SB I would honestly expect the Steelers to win. I also agree about Rosenfels being better than Jackson. I dont think Jackson can even see over his linemen which is why he is always checking down and having a bad yards per completion average. In the game that just happened Jackson threw around 5.5 yards per completion to Rosenfels 9.1. It was preseason and Rosenfels did get the starters though…

mnmaverick says:Aug 15, 2009 2:35 AM

Sage is definately the better of the two. T-Joke shouldn’t even be in the league. He’s down-right HORRIBLE. Booty looked good. Ian Johnson, man, that guy is a beast.

Rossum20 says:Aug 15, 2009 2:59 AM

We are comparing the defenses of the 2000 Ravens to the 2009 Vikings and the conclusion is they are comparable?
Well, that is just stupid.

BLOOMER0069 says:Aug 15, 2009 6:07 AM

Rossum20 says:
August 15, 2009 2:59 AM
We are comparing the defenses of the 2000 Ravens to the 2009 Vikings and the conclusion is they are comparable?
Well, that is just stupid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whats Stupid~?

BLOOMER0069 says:Aug 15, 2009 6:10 AM

Elgar says:
August 14, 2009 11:44 PM
Ray Edwards was the first of three Vikings to sack Peyton Manning like some shabby rag doll tonight and hold him to a big goose egg in his yards passing stats during his only series. The Colts threw in the towel for him to prevent Manning from visiting the ER as a customer and let someone else endure the next three sacks. The Vikings are going to stomp the NFC flat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Agreed~! He did FOLD like a CHEAP LAWN CHAIR against the Vikings Defense Line~! LOL~!

aj says:Aug 15, 2009 7:00 AM

They didn’t leave Sage in long enough to do something stupid, which he always does.
And when’s the last time Indy gave a shit about a preseason game? Don’t they go 0-4 every year?

JimmySmith says:Aug 15, 2009 7:37 AM

Book your Superbowl reservations now; based on the first quarter of the first pre season game, I can foresee nothing but calm seas ahead for this juggernaut of a football team.
While you are at it, check the Vegas odds on 16-0 and take a second mortgage, it’s a better bet than any of the Fortune 500 stocks. Childress will be coach of the year and the Vikings will sell out all of their home games, including the playoffs.
While you are at it, cancel the night out with they boys next Friday, Megan Fox is coming over just to sit on your face.

vikes backer says:Aug 15, 2009 8:20 AM

sage looked calm, very composed in the pocket. Almost like he had been with this offense all along. He looked good, on the other hand tjack looked just like he has all along, terrible! It doesn’t matter if tjack was with the 2nd team offense, his accuracy on his passes was terrible. Booty looked good considering the playing time he has in. If sage plays like that during the season, maybe there is hope for the vikes. Can’t wait to see percy harvin in action next week!

promichael says:Aug 15, 2009 8:37 AM

Rosenfel’s success is not good. Now someone by the name of Brett Favre is most likely thinking, I can do that and better. Please stay retired Brett!

AmishGangsta says:Aug 15, 2009 8:51 AM

Elgar said-Ray Edwards was the first of three Vikings to sack Peyton Manning like some shabby rag doll tonight and hold him to a big goose egg in his yards passing stats during his only series. The Colts threw in the towel for him to prevent Manning from visiting the ER as a customer and let someone else endure the next three sacks. The Vikings are going to stomp the NFC flat.
Keep in mind, the Colts are the worst preseason team in the HISTORY of the league, plus the Vikings sent 7 guys on all 3 sacks. The Colts play extremely vanilla in the preseason.
I wouldn’t be so quick to annoint the Vikings based on THAT series. If the game counted, it wouldn’t have been like that.
P.S. Hey Florio, fix the dad gum login already.

jusford says:Aug 15, 2009 8:54 AM

Solid statement against the Colts defense in pre-season. LOL.

crimsonking52 says:Aug 15, 2009 9:15 AM

We in VikeQueen land need the optimism of the pre season. Nobody’s folded, everyone looks like a genius as well as the second coming. The harsh realities of the long winter mirror those of our football team. Let us enjoy it now for the miseries of January (weather and football) are yet to come.

empty13 says:Aug 15, 2009 11:58 AM

vikes cant play vanilla pass defense. they excel only at run defense.
they arent a 2000 balto style defense.

J.Cannon says:Aug 15, 2009 11:58 AM

Name that man the starter and get it over with. T-Jack get your clip board ready.

gonzolo4 says:Aug 15, 2009 12:16 PM

Jackson presumably will start next Friday’s preseason game against the Chiefs as he and Rosenfels continue to battle for the right to be the first guy benched if the team struggles to start the season
WOW Florio, funniest thing I’ve read in a while.

mnmaverick says:Aug 15, 2009 12:49 PM

I don’t think Rosenfels will be benched unless Favre opts to play when the exhibition games end.

sand0 says:Aug 15, 2009 5:11 PM

Preseason or not you can’t deny that the Vikings starters couldn’t have possibly looked any better than they did. They outgained the Colts 147-0 and outscored them 10-0.
Peyton Manning was sacked 14 times in 16 games last season. The Vikings sacked him 3 times in 6 plays. And two of them were coverage sacks as Manning’s outlet was undercut. One of the sacks was both ends annihilating the blocking. And I believe, don’t quote me on this, that each sack was registered by a defensive lineman, though EJ would have decleated Manning on the one sack had the lineman not already tugged him down. Preseason or not Peyton Manning does not get sacked unless the combination of pass rush and coverage are first class on that play.
The Vikings ran a vanilla attack other than the 4th and 2 roll out pass. The receivers were fairly well covered and Sage threaded nice well placed catchable balls to them. He got rid of the ball extremely quick on each passing down and still managed 9.1 yard per attempt despite Berrian (hurt on one of the first plays) and Harvin not being available to him.
Heck, the worse thing from the starters was AP only averaging 5 yards on 4 carries! And most of the comments in this thread are the same off topic regurgitated anti-Vikings puke that you losers pump into every Vikings article every year. I swear half of you must just be bots with about 5 comments to rotate through whenever a Vikings article is posted.
Skol Vikings!
My prediction for a solid NFC North this season
Vikings 12-4 (slightly improved O and D, much better special teams)
Bears 9-7 (better O, weaker D, same result)
Packers 8-8 (improved record in close games. same one dimensional O. Better against run weaker against pass but overall same weak D as last year)
Lions 5-11 and most improved team in the NFL!!!

RagnartheViking says:Aug 15, 2009 5:55 PM

Isn’t it funny that all the Packer fans were saying that last night we’d get a preview of how bad the Vikes would be this year.
Now it’s “It’s only preseason”.
Don’t worry jerk-offs, it isn’t going to change.
This team is for real, stay tuned.

Peoria Viking says:Aug 17, 2009 10:24 AM

Paul Allen made the comment a long time ago about T-Jack that still rings true, it was something to the effect that “when he drops back he looks like a college player sprinting back in the back field, NFL quarterback’s look have a more relaxed swagger and are looking down field while dropping back”. That was clearly on display in the Colts game. Sage looked like an NFL QB, T-Jack looked like a college QB, and was dropping back way to far. I concur: Advantage Sage, unless of course Favre changes his mind.